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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2013)
UFCW to host ‘delete blood cancer’ drive at Labor Day picnic One person is diagnosed with blood cancer every four minutes. Thousands of patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases de- pend on finding matching bone marrow donors who can save their lives. Patients need donors who are a close genetic match. But even with a registry of mil- lions, six out of 10 patients never receive the lifesaving transplant they need. This Labor Day at Oaks Park, union members and their families could be the one to give a blood cancer patient a sec- ond chance at life by registering to be a bone marrow donor. The Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 are partnering with Delete Blood Cancer (DKMS) to host the donor registration drive. DKMS is a 501(c)(3) organization founded to es- tablish a worldwide donor registry. “We have the potential to set the record for the most donor registrations in a single day,” said Dan Clay, presi- dent of Local 555, who is spearheading the drive. The picnic typically attracts 18,000 people. The goal is to register 1,800 donors. Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 55, weigh more than 110 pounds, be in good general health, and commit to donate peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow if found to be a match. Registering is as easy as fill- ing out a form and swabbing the inside of your cheeks to collect cells for tissue typing. The entire process should take less than 10 minutes. “Statistically, we have a real poten- tial to save six lives in the next year based on what we do on Labor Day (Sept. 2),” Clay said. “A one-day drive can save six lives this year, and more lives next year. It’s a huge opportunity to do good.” Swab stations will be set up at two locations at Oaks Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more details on bone marrow donation, go on line to deleteblood- cancer.org. Labor Day picnic blood drive called off due to labor dispute A contract dispute between Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross has resulted in the cancela- tion of this year’s Labor Day blood drive at Oaks Park. Regular attendees of the picnic spon- sored by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council know that the Red Cross al- ways parks a bloodmobile or two at the picnic for blood donations. Typically, 30 to 35 pints of blood are collected — with a record 80 pints set last year. ONA represents 64 nurses at Amer- ican Red Cross. Teamsters Local 223 represents 150 support staff there. The Teamsters had contract issues with Red Cross last year that almost led to the cancellation of the blood drive. A new contract was ratified, but the union says it still is having problems implement- ing some of the new language in that Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park will feature kids’ scavenger hunt Twenty-two unions have signed on to participate in a kids’ scavenger hunt at this year’s Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park. “It’s a fun way to educate young- sters — and their parents — about what it is union members do,” said Jeff Klatke, president of Oregon AFSCME Council 75 and chair of the children’s game planning committee for the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. “Passports” can be picked up at La- bor’s Community Service Agency’s (LCSA) booth at the picnic. Once kids obtain the required number of stamps, they will return their passport to the LCSA booth, where they will be eligi- ble for a drawing to win a bicycle or $50 gift card. All participants will re- ceive a prize. The scavenger hunt is for young- sters ages 1 to 18. It starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m., with the announce- ment of winners of the drawings. For more information, call Klatke at 503-704-1665. PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS contract. “The Teamsters Union supports ONA and the labor council in whatever action it is forced to take,” said Team- sters Rep Dave Tully. According to ONA, American Red Cross has brought in a union-busting at- torney from Alabama to negotiate the new agreement. The contract expired June 30. American Red Cross initially sought to replace registered nurses with unli- censed personnel at various stages of the blood donation process, including pa- tient assessments. It also proposed limit- ing nurses’ access to their sick leave bank until the third consecutive day they were out of work. Both of those propos- als were withdrawn, said Tresa Ca- vanaugh, lead negotiator for ONA. The remaining hurdle is wages. American Red Cross is pushing to lower the wage rate for new-hires, elim- inate step/ longevity increases, and cut differential pay. ONA has represented nurses at American Red Cross for more than 30 years. Limited free food scrip offered at Oaks Park Labor Day picnic Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) will provide free food and drink scrip for union families who are out of work and want to take part in the Labor Day picnic festivities at Oaks Park. Scrip will be limited to a certain amount per family on a first-come, first-served basis. “We want everybody to be able to come out and have a good time,” said LCSA Executive Director Vickie Burns. “We’ll verify their union mem- bership and call members back with in- structions on where to pick up their scrip at Oaks Park.” To make arrangements for scrip, call Labor’s Community Service Agency at 503-231-4962 and leave a message that you would like some scrip for the pic- nic. AUGUST 16, 2013
